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PDLS+ front camera inoperative, can I replace it myself
I noticed high beam assist was selectable but never triggered, so I connected my PIWIS and saw that it had a fault during 'automatic coding' which is a fairly routine procedure when you change something about your car (I added an MF wheel which works fine). The error is B200500 which corresponds to implausible output from the camera. Replacing the camera and coding it is easy but there is a calibration step that I do not have the hardware for. Has anyone replaced the PDLS+ camera in their car and if so, did they have to do anything other than simple activation via PIWIS? Thanks!
Did you ever figure this out? I'm retrofitting a camera and running into issues. Background: I retrofitted PDLS+ and LED headlights successfully, but I did not have the camera at the time because it needed a different windshield.
EDIT: I found the Front Camera menu option in PIWIS, but it doesn't have a "commissioning" step like the headlights did. I ran the automatic coding/adaptations step, but it didn't update the VIN associated with the camera control unit, so, presumably that's why it's still throwing communication errors. I see what you mean about calibration hardware; I wonder what will happen with no (or dummy) values provided for the "wheel edge housing height" and the other parameters it asks for.
Last edited by martopoulos; 04-28-2022 at 05:39 AM.
So, turns out that you can't replace the camera yourself. You can do some basic coding* for it in PIWIS, but a shop with proper calibration hardware (e.g. Bosch/Autel ADAS rigs) will need finish the process, otherwise you will have a Missing Calibration fault and probably nothing will be able to communicate with the camera.
* Curiously, it's not the coding step that writes your car's VIN to the camera, but rather the calibration. I had a glass shop with an Autel ADAS rig/tablet take care of it for $200. Dealer quoted an absurd $950.
i have this same issue right now and purchased a piwis clone thinking it will fix it. Im getting "High beam assist unavailable" message in the instrument cluster, and when i read the code it just says "Calibration". My ACC and PDLS+ is working fine though, just no automatic high beam. Do i have to take it to the dealer or a glass shop to use that screen they have that calibrates the camera?
Yeah, it has to go through the calibration process (dealer or glass shop with an expensive machine) before you can code it with PIWIS. Somewhat surprisingly, it's the calibration process that actually writes the VIN to the camera. Definitely look for a glass shop, though. The one I used charged me $200-250 iirc, whereas a dealer wanted like $1000.
On the bright side, it is nice to have PIWIS so you didn't waste your money. You'll be able to replace batteries yourself and run other diagnostics.
i figured it out and got the front camera to calibrate using PIWIS after ordering a clone of the front camera calibration tool from aliexpress! i cant believe it worked, pm me if you want more details, couple pictures below...
That white poster with the dots is what you need to calibrate the front camera using PIWIS, had to move the car back and forth a couple times to get it lined up properly but in the end it worked!
here it is finally succeeding, after trying to enter in a bunch of different arbitrary numbers from the "alignment machine" for the "wheel edge housing height" that it kept rejecting, finally i entered in a combination it accepted and it worked!!!
Last edited by mikescayenne; 07-01-2024 at 01:49 PM.